Step 2: Building & Usage

In this Instructable I will describe how to make a spice mister.
A spice mister is a very useful device for adding an evenly distributed burst of heat to your food. The fine mist that comes from this device will coat all parts of the food dish with an equal amount of flavor, unlike most hot sauce bottles, which apply the sauce in large messy drops, and you can use the pure stuff - capsaicin extract.

Step 1: Materials

1. Plastic spray bottle - This can be any type of spray bottle. The one I used for this project was a little over four inches tall and one and a half inches wide. It has an attached cap which is very convenient, as it helps me from accidentally macing my friends or myself when whipping it out.

2. The spice - Many different things can be used for the spice. The simplest thing to do would be just to fill the bottle up with your favorite hot sauce. You can use store bought hot sauce, or make your own using one of these recipes. If you are more interested in pure heat than flavor, you can make capsaicin extract as shown here or buy the commercial version on eBay (make sure to use a public computer to create a dummy eBay account, and pay for your product with a prepaid credit card which can be bought at most convenience stores. As always, never use your real address for shipment, instead have it shipped to a PO Box which has no verifiable information traceable to you. These precautions will make it harder for Big Brother to track you). Water down the extract until you find the intensity that best matches your tastes.

Extra: It is a good idea to put some sort of identifying label on the bottle, so no one accidentally uses it as breath spray. For my warning I decided to use an image of a red chili. It is simple and straightforward, and the lack of words means that it can be understood by anyone from a non-English speaking country (Useful if you have to flee your home country to a nation with non-extradition policies)

in the book you say u use sys how do u set up firefox portable to do that email me if u can tellme how Kidbossbenz@aol.com

well its pretty cool that you just publicly posted your email address man.

Great project, very well written. <br/><br/>There is only one thing that I can not understand. You say that &quot;Pepper spray is nasty, evil stuff and should never, ever be used on anything except food.&quot; <br/><br/>-First off, pepper spray is much much more potent than what you suggest making here, and real pepper spray is what <strong>should never be used on food</strong>. <br/><br/>-Secondly, are you really suggesting that pepper spray should never be used on anyone, even in self-defense? I can not agree with you on that.<br/>

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/ Download it, and read the part on gassing the crowds, the voice God of shouting &quot;Disperse immediately!!!&quot;, and Ange's Hot Sauce spray. Other than that, your right. PERSONAL SELF DEFENSE is acceptable. This w1n5t0n is A bit like the xnetters marcus got the stuff from, and checked his email with.

Having been sprayed...and for much longer than the prescribed "1 second burst" as taught by law enforcement acadamia, (imagine being hit with a turbo-jalapeÃ±o cream pie in the tradition of Bozo), half a can, (i have pictures of it somewhere too) I will say, curcumstance depending, I think I'd just as well be shot, or shoot someone, as put them through the hours of unmitigated hell that can be induced by pepper spray/foam. Just my personal not so humble opinion. Then again, I hope never again to be in a situation where it's warranted/necessary. Once a lifetime is enough, 2 would be 42 too many.

what about the hours of unmitigated hell your going to have to face to fix your slashed tires?

yah.i was sprayed for like five seconds(it dosnt sound like much,but belive me,it HURTS,i aint kiddin.)

Lets say you lived in Florida.<br/>You see some little punks slashing your tires and run up to them. You are greeted with a Mace facial.<br/>The little barstool gets off on 'Self defence'.<br/><br/>FOR GOD'S SAKE, JUST KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!!!!<br/>NO IMPLEMENT REQUIRED!!!!<br/>SELF DEFENCE IS 9/10 TIME PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE!! <strong>Pepper spray is good purely for torture</strong><br/>

If you use pure capsaicin (liquid form) then this spray will be much more potent than pepper spray.
Pepper Spray is 'Oleoresin Capsaicin' (The same thing as capsaicin we eat) in anywhere from 2-10% of OC to other ingredients. Meaning, out of 10 ounces, only .2oz to 1oz of the pepper spray is capsaicin. Whereas with pure capsaicin it is 100% strength.
You will die if you breath this in. You will go blind if you get it in your eyes. It will burn your skin. It is a hazardous chemical to have, and it is ILLEGAL to use on anybody as a weapon or in self defense.
I'm not saying don't enjoy spicy foods--I'm just letting you know the hazards of doing so. :P

Would a (empty and clean) glasses cleaner spray bottle thingy work?
Its about the right size.

How would this work? Capsaicin only dissolves in alcohol, not water. Are you mixing it with moonshine?

It dissolves in fat, too. That's why yoghurt stops spice.

Most commercially available hot-sauces are thicker than water and they have sediment. This would make them unsuitable for this type of sprayer. It might work for the first few uses but it would eventually clog rendering your applicator useless. You MIGHT be able to avoid this by straining the hot-sauce through a sieve or perhaps through some cheese cloth but I don't think either would be perfect.
good idea though.

Actually, this gives me an idea... You could probably thin down the sauce with water, and then do &quot;gelatin filtration&quot; on it to get the essence of the hot sauce. It'd probably be diluted, but that's the price you pay for using food for what's obviously intended to be a non-food application.<br/><br/>Here's the info about <a rel="nofollow" href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E7D71539F936A3575AC0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print">gelatin filtration</a>.<br/>

Pepper spray HURTS!!!!! and the character's name is agne. How is that pronounced?

This to me is like a Pepper Mill Extreme!. In the book that this is based on it was used by one of the characters to make her food much spicier. I don't recall her using it on anyone.

Spicy Breath!
(capsaicin spray)

As Emeril would say. BAM!

Sounds like someone's tired of wimpy old habanero sauce to me! But why not use pre-packaged and ready-labeled rape grade pepper spray? I know it's not "supposed" to be used culinarily, but neither is laboratory capsaicin, so what's the diff? And are all the precautions really necessary?

I think OC-spray might have some unfavorable ingredients that you might not want in your food. Yes, the precaution is necessary, as it does burn on contact, especially the thinner the skin is where it makes contact.

Not those precautions, I mean the ones where you sit in an internet cafe wearing a trenchcoat and groucho marx glasses, searching ebay for capsaicin to have sent to the porn store around the corner from your apartment.

Dang...I better cancel my order then....And how did you know what glasses I was wearing?

pepper spray used for self defense is specifically made just to inflame areas that make contact with the spray. Like Prometheus said, they are unfavorable ingredients, and in this case, those ingridients will make you stop breathing.

Were I live we have a severe Deer problem, they eat everything in sight. Please correct me it seems to me this would be an excellent Deer repellant. If the pepper oil were sprayed on plants to be protected, the Deer would have a "HOT" taste in their mouths and then not come back. Since this is an oil and during the extraction process alcohol is used to seperated "the magic potion" it should stay on the plants for some time. Plants that get hit hard are Pine trees at all stages, of course your garden repell rabbits, might be interesting to see if there are any effects on the fruit or vegie. Harvesting might be a problem if the oil if sprayed at the beginning of the growing season does not dissipate by that time, if so then rubber gloves, etc. and of course do not touch your eyes.

Actually, capsaicin IS already made just for that purpose. One bite, and they'll likely never return, and it doesn't harm the plant at all. As an added bonus, some insects will also be repelled (capsaicin is a natural bug deterrent, just like THC in cannabis), so you may get some added benefits as well. Lacking direct access to pure capsaicin, you can simply use habernero Tabasco sauce the same way.
Definitely don't get it in your eyes, or on your fingers because you may eventually touch your eyes. Capsaicin is also used to treat nerve pain in some circumstances.. It won't actually burn anything away, but it'll sure feel like it if you get it anywhere near your eyes or other mucous membranes.

I have truthfully never been pepper-sprayed, but have been bear-maced. (Not because I deserved it or because it was my fault, it wasn't!) And to tell you the truth, it hurt. Bad. I've heard bear mace hurts much worse than pepper spray, but I believe they are the same idea (correct me if I am wrong) which is supposedly concentrated pepper juice, which is basically hot sauce. So, if my info is right, you have basically made a very weak version of pepper spray. Congrats!
Does it spray well through that small device? Or is it too thick?
Nevertheless I can see such an idea patented in the future. Reminds me of those spray-on salad dressings!

Actually it is not a weak version. This is just about the same stuff that goes in capsaicin spray (CS spray, pepper spray).

Again, I cannot speak for pepper-spray through experience, but I have spilled hot sauce on my skin before, and it did not feel like I would imagine pepper-spray to, as it did not hurt...<br/><br/>I assume this hot sauce is approximately 35,000 Scoville Units (A Habanero is ~100,000 a Chipotle about 3,000. Therefore a <strong>pure</strong> mix of the two would be approximately 51,500), whereas &quot;US grade&quot; pepper spray is anywhere from 2,000,000&acirc;&euro;&ldquo;5,300,000. Usually close to 3,700,000.<br/><br/>Theoretically, through the small amount of research I have done, the science does not add up. This sauce could be concentrated 100 times over and may not be as hot as pepper spray.<br/>

Actually, lab grade capsaicin extract in no way resembles hot sauce. It's a thin clear liquid, and it is around 15% with water commonly.

You mean spritzers? I saw a commercial about those. Salad Spritzers! Give your salad an extra burst of flavor! You think salad spritzers would hurt if you use as pepper spray? lol

I don't know about that, some of those spritzers have vinegar in them. I don't think I would want that in my eye.

AFAIK bear spray is OC13, that's Oleoresin capsicum, 13% strength. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleoresin_capsicum">Wikipedia</a> has some more info.<br/><br/>My guess is it's &quot;pure&quot; OC he's got in there.. or diluted with water to the desired intensity.<br/><br/>I personally wouldn't trust a sprayer bottle to deliver any hot sauce with chunks in it. I had a nasty experience with Taco Bell's &quot;fire&quot; sauce exploding into my food and rebounding into my eyes. <br/><br/>But this looks like a very mild-ish form of pepper spray (basically).<br/>

Sounds really cool! I do wonder where you got that excellent bottle from, though.

Wonderful idea! But won't it clog the spray nozzle?
Michel
Portugal

maybe if you could filter some hotsauce so there are no bits in it.

The seems to be a large amount of cry baby's and do-gooders on this site commenting. I think this is a great idea.

What's wrong with the taste of finely chopped chilies? I like to prepare food for eating, not chemically engineer it.

What might be fine for you scoville-wise might not be fine for say, my asthmatic grandma.
With this, I get to make Curry as hot as I like it in my bowl. Grandma gets to have hers as mild as she likes it. We can both eat from the same pot, while having two different dishes.

hot peppers really help asthma. it opens you up.

Just like if I were to, say, add as many freshly chopped chillies to my burrito as I like, but not to the one that I feed to my grandpa.

Yep. But this has the added benefit of being portable, so you can spice up any food you happen to be eating anywhere.

where did the odd paranoid libertarian step two come from?

Actually...
A libertarian wouldn't say you should never use pepper spray, as libertarians are strong believers in property rights and the protection thereof.
You were probably thinking of those socialist liberals who think the real victim is the thief... >:)

Yay, restorative justice! heal the offender, not the victim! That's the way to go...